Daniel Nicolae Dubei

I’m giving an honorable mention to Philip Glass for Anthem Part 2, from his film score Powaqqatsi, which was released back in 1988. But that is not where I know this piece from. In fact, I still have yet to have watched this movie. I know it from The Truman Show, Peter Weir’s fantastic, ahead of its time film which was released ten years later, in 1998. 

Philip Glass is a composer who is still alive (good to see a few of the living on this list). He took lessons from Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 60s, who taught him the art of counterpoint. He was also influenced by Steve Reich and others of the 60s such as Stockhausen and Berio. 

He is a composer that has broken through the barrier between film composers being taken seriously as classical composers as well. He’s composed numerous operas and symphonies as well as numerous film scores. He teamed up with director Godfrey Reggio for the experimental film, Powaqqatsi. The other pieces in the score are good, but in Anthem, Part 2, Glass hits just the right notes. However, having not seen the film, I can’t say how it works with Powaqqatsi. 

However, I can speak for how well Anthem, Part 2 works in The Truman Show. The music comes near the beginning of the film just as Truman is finally catching on that he is part of some kind of experiment. The music is perfect for the moment Truman keeps turning in the revolving door, so that instead of going to work, he turns around to go back outside. 

I’m generally not a fan of minimalism. I can’t make it through Glass’s operas. I actually get dizzy listening for too long to the extreme repetitive music. However, I think he got it just right with most of the pieces he used for the Truman Show, Anthem Part 2 in particular. 

#11 – Dvorak Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22

#12 – Stravinsky Le Sacre du Printemps

#13 – Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue

#14 – Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551

#15 – Coltrane My Favorite Things

#16 – Dvorak Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

#17 – Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

#18 – Mozart Don Giovanni, K. 527

#19 – Liszt Les Preludes, S. 97

#20 – Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro, K. 492

#21 – Tchaikovsky Swan Lake, Op. 20 

#22 – Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C minor

#23 – Tchaikovsky String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11

#24 – Williams Empire Strikes Back

#25 – Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in Eb major, Op. 73

#26 – Bernstein West Side Story

#27 – Enescu – Octet for Strings in C major, Op. 7

#28 – Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

#29 – Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain

#30 – Webber Phantom of the Opera

#31 – Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky

#32 – Chopin Nocturne in Bb minor, Op. 9, No. 1

#33 – Debussy Images, Book 1, L110

#34 – Debussy Pour Le Piano, L. 95

#35 – Chaminade Guitare, Op. 32

#36 – Chopin Berceuse in Db major, Op. 57

#37 – Boulanger Nocturne pour violon et piano

#38 – Schönberg Les Miserables

#39 – Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

#40 – Miranda Hamilton

#41 – Strauss Salomé

#42 – Britten Peter Grimes

#43 – Loewe My Fair Lady

#44 – Liszt Mephisto Waltzes

#45 – Webber Evita

#46 – Poledouris Conan The Barbarian

#47 – Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti

#48 – Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

#49 – Chaminade La Lisonjera, Op. 50

#50 – Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Honorable Mention

Glass Anthem, Pt. 2

Weber Der Freischütz

Coleman Lonely Woman

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

Tchaikovsky Nutcracker

Jobim Girl From Ipanema

Shostakovich Suite for Variety Orchestra

Schubert Symphony No. 9 in C major, D 944

Saariaho L’Amour de Loin

Schubert String Quartet No. 14 “Death and the Maiden”

Desmond Take Five

Wagner Die Walküre 

Puccini Tosca

Davis So What

Stravinsky Petroushka 

Wagner Tristan Und Isolde

Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings

Williams Raiders of the Lost Ark

Verdi Aïda

Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht

Grisey Les espaces acoustiques

Gade – Octet for 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 violoncellos in F major, Op. 17

Schubert – Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759